


Closure

by JaxStarGazer



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Closure, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:20:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28883805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaxStarGazer/pseuds/JaxStarGazer
Summary: Poppy gets an uninvited surprise outside work in Julri, giving her the chance to finally find the closure she deserves.
Comments: 29
Kudos: 101





	Closure

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: Poppy gets an uninvited surprise outside work in Julri, giving her the chance to finally find the closure she deserves.
> 
> \---
> 
> I've had this idea nagging me for so long and I really needed to just get it out. So yeah, I'm just de-cluttering my brain again and posting it before I bottle it! 
> 
> \---
> 
> Midnight Poppy Land belongs to the wonderful genius of Lilydusk.

Closure

As I stepped through the foyer of Giant Goldfish Publishing’s towards the front glass doors, Tora took two long strides in front of me and pulled the door open to half step through first, swinging his gaze around out front before stepping back clearly satisfied to allow me to step through past him. I brushed my bare shoulder against his long sleeved t-shirt as I walked past, choosing to ignore the little shiver that ran down my back, tingling all my nerves along the way. He followed so close on my heels I could feel his heat penetrating my back as I heard a muffled, “Hey!” of indignation come from inside the building. Stopping to look around Tora I saw Quincey waving his arms around, his face flushed. 

“Real smooth, honey,” Quincey snarked as he yanked the door open and stepped out onto the pavement to join us. I tried to hide a giggle behind my hand whilst simultaneously and half heartedly whacking Tora on the bicep for teasing our friend.. “Don’t encourage him, Miss Editor, he picks on me enough.” Quincey flounced, whipping his head up, chin in the air as he made to stroll off without us. 

I smacked Tora again when I heard his little pft pft laugh and my reaction as he fell into step next to me.

“Popsicle?!” 

I stumbled in my step as the hated nickname I haven’t heard in a few months registered through my happy haze. Tora reacted instantly, catching me by my elbow to keep me upright. But I’d righted my steps almost as quickly. My back ramrod straight as a low buzz started in my ears, my heart suddenly racing, my hands shaking where I held on to the strap of my cross body bag. I wanted to hurl. I wanted to run. I wanted to fall into the safe space of Tora’s shadow and have him block out this incessant bug that had suddenly crawled out of my past and threatened to send me spiralling back down a rabbit hole I’d only just started to feel like I was crawling out of. 

And now what? I thought frantically, my thoughts whipping into a frenzy at the sudden reappearance of him. Months without any contact, no apology, no recognition he had received the box of his things I had shipped back to him to clear him out of my life. Nothing to say he felt even the slightest thing for me in the years we were together. And I had come to terms with all of that surprisingly quickly, the relief to just be away from a situation that although had hurt me badly, was one I had known I needed to get away from for a long time. 

But now he just thinks he can reappear and make me question all the healing I’ve been doing? Make me question myself again? Has he come to make me feel like once again, I’m not good enough? Who does he think he is? The shock was giving way quickly to rage. My body is positively humming with the need to correct him on all those assumptions. Thoughts, emotions, reactions spinning through my mind, flitting around me all within the space of seconds as I watched Quincey stop and turn to look at me quickly. Aware of where that hated nickname had come from as he watched me and then settled his steely gaze on the man behind me. 

Tora’s hand squeezed my elbow once, unnoticed by anyone but me. It offered a grounding to my emotions, but he let it go once I raised my head higher and grit my teeth slowly turning around to face the slimy smile of my ex-boyfriend. 

“Poppylan?” he asked, as I stared at him with my best indifferent gaze I could pull up in such short notice. He took a step forward emboldened by my silence as I felt rather than saw Tora stiffen next to me. Some kind of turmoil escaping from him like vapour. But I couldn’t focus on him right then. I just needed to focus on myself and the stomach falling feeling that came with staring into the barren eyes of Julri. I waited to see if there was anything besides the inner rage I was consumed by as I took in his basic clothes, his nothing special hair, the smarmy expression that once upon a time made me feel a very tiny flutter. But now just made me want to punch him to wipe it off his face. He hadn’t changed at all since the day I closed the door on him with his lipstick marks, pants undone. He was the same guy who’d unravelled me bit by bit over a number of years. Who made me think I wasn’t worthy enough for him. This, this little man who was nothing. Who I had built up to be this monster in my mind, who made me feel small and pathetic.

When in actual fact that was him. Standing before him now, faced with the monster from my nightmares and I wanted to laugh as I felt that snap of control he has had over me all this time, finally and irrevocably breaking apart. That last bit of closure I didn’t realise I needed until I was faced with it. He no longer had that hold on me and the deep breath I took in made my chest ache with relief. 

“How are you? I tried to call but I couldn’t get through.” he went on, his feet shuffling on the path, whether it was because of his outright lie or because his eyes flicked to the intimidating presence of Tora next to me, I didn’t care. “Could we go somewhere to talk? Alone.”

I quirked an eyebrow at that, an hysterical laugh close to bubbling out of my mouth that I just managed to keep to myself. 

“No.” I finally said, my tone as clipped and unemotional as my expression had been the whole time. I took great satisfaction in watching him go from open and inviting to frowning in confusion at my answer. I almost wanted to laugh again that he actually expected anything more from me than that. But then this is Julri, who will never change and see me as anything but a puppet to be manipulated into his version of a perfect girlfriend. 

“What do you mean, no? Popsicle we have - “

“Do not call me that.” I grounded out through my teeth, a slip in my mask as that damn name scratched across my soul yet again. My hands were going numb where I gripped the strap of my bag even tighter. 

“Why? You love when I call you that,” he told me, his irritation clear in his voice. Past me by this point would have recognised I was pissing him off and needed to appeal to his better side so I wouldn’t upset him further. But that’s not me anymore and I was through with caring about his feelings. It’s not like he ever cared about mine. “Look, I’ve come all this way to see you, could you please just come get a coffee with me so we can talk? It cost me a lot to get the train here.”

I heard Quincey suck in a quick breath behind me where he’d stepped closer as a silent spectator of support. But he didn’t say anything and neither did Tora who’s aura of hostility had been increasing with every word out of Julri’s mouth. But it went unmatched against mine. The only one who had a right to be raging mad right now was me. Though their support meant a lot to me. To have a witness to this sly pathetic excuse of a man trying to throw the guilt at my feet helping me to keep the fiery white hot anger coursing through me. How many times had I gotten the train back to Moonbright to see him, not once complaining about the cost? How many times did I skip out on offers of nights out, using my days off to go and see him just for him to play his computer game or whine about his own life and how he was so bogged down with work and schoolwork that he didn’t even have time to clean or cook? With every memory to bombard my mind I curled the fingers of my loose hand even tighter into a fist. 

“You’re wasting your time, I have nothing to say to you. Go home.” I put as much strength into each word as I could. Deliberately choosing to not say anymore than I really had to. I’ve wasted years of my life crying over him, questioning everything he said or did to me. To use anymore breath on him would be a waste. I’ve finally taken the power back for myself, the thought of him having even a little bit of it again in the anger he’s caused me left me with a sick feeling churning my stomach into knots. My adrenaline was starting to spike, my face flushing with the control it was taking to not show him how I was really feeling. I refused to give him any satisfaction of a reaction if I could help it.

“Poppylan, you’re being ridiculous. Do you really want to cause a scene like this on the street in front of these . . . people?” he gestured towards Quincey and Tora beside and behind me. “Outside your place of work no less?” When he didn’t get any more than a slight tilt of my eyebrow again he went on, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face as he started to lose control of the situation even further. He huffed with frustration, his self control slipping. “Look if this is about Mimi it was nothing, OK? You weren’t around and I was feeling lonely, you hadn’t been calling me like you used to and - “

My dry, cackling laugh stopped him cold as he sputtered to a stop looking confused and a little bit more angry. I loosened the hold on my bag to let the blood flow back to my fingers as the laugh went on a little bit longer. If I was alone it would have turned into hysterical crying fast. And no doubt that will come, later on when the only one to witness it will be my beloved plants dotted around my apartment and balcony. But that will be later, when I’ve shed my work clothes, climbed into my comfy clothes and finally let the impact of this unfortunate and final meeting with my abuser really hit me full force. Not right now, where I stood outside the job I bust my butt off to make it successful. Not in front of my star client, and fast becoming a good friend, Quincey. Not in front of the towering man who has shown me what emotional validation really is, who has made me feel more than tiny flutters when he has kissed me and given me a reason to stand before this asshole and be the tough little hamster he says I am.

Who I know I am. Who I have always been.

“Can you give Mimi a message from me? Tell her thank you, for giving me a reason to finally walk away from you. She did me a huge favour,” I smiled my best wholesome and happy smile I could possibly muster towards such a coward of a person. Strengthening it when I saw the colour flood his face as his mouth curled into a twisted growl. He looked unravelled, dishevelled and small. I took another deep breath in, drawing on that inner strength that has gotten me through the hardest years of my life so far and dropped my smile. “Goodbye Julri.”

Twisting on my foot I turned away from him, my body aching with tension as the fire continued to rage inside me, screaming for a release as it surged to every part of my body making my steps stiff and uncomfortable. There was so much more that I wanted to say. So much I wanted to scream at him for all the years of trauma he’s put me through. The years he’s robbed of me. So much I wanted to hurt him like he’s hurt me. But the problem with people like him is they’ll never accept their faults. It would all be wasted breath, wasted emotion that he would do nothing but spin back on me. He wouldn’t even need to say anything to let me know what would come. He was just as capable of giving me a simple look to tell me what was coming. I am not giving him that kind of power over me ever again. I will rise above and scream it into my pillow when I get home instead. I’ll let those tears that Erdene tells me are cleansing, do what standing before him screaming will never do. 

So I walked away, Quincey’s gaze shooting between me and Tora as he walked just in front and to the side of me. I couldn’t focus on Tora, all I could do was put one foot in front of the other as my anger raged to be let out. 

And it got it’s chance. 

Before I could think about it I felt a small clammy hand wrap around my upper arm as my body got tugged to turn back around and the wild eyed gaze of Julri was boring into me with disgust and spitefulness. So many things happened at once that the next thing I knew Julri was flat on his back on the pavement, my adrenaline pumping so fast I could hear my blood rushing in my ears blocking out all sounds on the street as my hand that had been numb not long before from clenching my bag strap, throbbed and pulsed. I blinked down at Julri in wonder, trying to work out what happened as bright red streamed down his face, bright against the paleness of his face. I felt strong warm hands cup my bare shoulders and gently turn me slightly to look into intense amber eyes, Tora’s voice slowly filtering back through the dull roar in my ears.

“Bobby? Bobby, ya alright?”

“Huh?” I intelligently muttered back as Quincey drew my attention back to Julri where he was looming over him, shaking his blond head at the small man on the ground who had his hands against his face where blood was rushing between his fingers. I looked on dispassionately, detached from the situation. “I - “ I started, turning my gaze back on Tora who was watching me carefully, stooped down to be more eye level with me. He really does have such beautiful eyes, I thought to myself as I slowly lifted my hands to rest on his shoulders. But Tora intercepted me halfway and took a hold of my hand that was throbbing, inspecting the knuckles. With the slight touch he applied to them I winced and suddenly came back to the present, my mind catching up with my actions. “Oh. Oh!” I gasped on a harsh laugh as I looked back at Julri again. “I did that.”

“Damn right, ya did,” Tora grinned at me, pride infusing his words. “Couldn’t have done it better myself.” I giggled, shock starting to replace the adrenaline and anger that had been the driving force behind my fist to Julri’s face. 

I pulled my hand from Tora’s and took a final deep breath to steady my racing heart as I looked away from Julri for the last time. With everything settling back into focus I was starting to feel shaken and tired, my body overloaded by the flood of emotions I’d been battling with in just a few scant minutes. Is that all it had been? It felt like I’d been outside facing him for hours. I needed a shower, a cake, a nap and a cry. In whichever order they chose to come in first. 

“I think I’m ready to go home.” I muttered to Tora, turning my back on Julri who was becoming more and more vocal as we stood there. Thankfully Quincey and Tora didn’t need to be told twice as they fell into step with me again, the presence of them both towering over me on either side making me feel sheltered and supported as we headed back to Tora’s car, and completely forgetting about Julri still on the ground. Quincey babbling about how amazing I was, how quickly I’d reacted, even somehow before Tora, when Julri had approached me. That he was proud of me and couldn’t wait to laugh about it to Erdene next time he saw her. Thankfully Tora’s reaction was a lot more subtle and comforting.

While Quincey stepped on ahead gesturing in his excitement Tora had grasped my fingers lightly in his and squeezed them gently. Bending down to whisper, “Well done, kid. Ya did it.” His words filled me with the warmth I needed in the after effects of my shock.

One day I’ll tell him just what those few words meant to me. I’ll tell him how it was with his help that I had managed to break from that vicious cycle of abuse and found a way to reclaim myself again for the first time in too long. That he had set me on the path of truly looking into who I am away from everything and everyone. That his silent support and simple gestures renewed my faith in people again. One day, I’ll let him close enough to discover who I'm trying and learning to figure out I am. 

One day, I hope I can say the same thing to him.

**Author's Note:**

> There were so many ways I could have gone with this meeting going down. As as much as I wanted Tora to step in for Poppy, or for Poppy to scream and yell at him, neither felt right. It's Poppy who deserves to get the last word in, Tora just needs to be a silent supporter of that, for me personally. Thank you for reading!


End file.
